Air Miles: How customers fought back and won (CBC Marketplace)

this is marketplace you've probably heard your air miles aren't expiring but you haven't heard this story how ordinary people took on the largest loyalty program in the country and one it's the people versus air mine five air mail collectors five computers five phones they're challenged redeem their loyalty miles by the end of our show who will feel rewarded and who will feel ripped off feeling pretty jaded right now my James Ivan Joanne and Roz van are loyal longtime customers five extra bonus models they go out of their way to buy from air mile partners shopping for everything from gas to liquor to groceries millions of other Canadians are trying to redeem their miles to our five are hitting the wall I've been running into major roadblocks this guy's heard all about those roadblocks I'm fed up says our five are not alone people aren't able to get the rewards that they want Rob engines been blogging about reward programs for years he's here to expose the problems collectors have with air miles welcome everyone so there's really only one rule to this challenge you must use your miles to get something you really want this is Rob hi everyone are you up for this challenge let's go okay Ready Set get shop should we be saying good luck to them and wishing them well I think they're gonna need all the help they can get [Music] has anybody gotten in yet cuz I just keep getting me circle going around and around they have the slowest website that I have ever experienced just getting a spinning circle Wow I've heard from readers they had to click you know five six times to even get to the page that they want is everyone in yeah yep our testers are under the gun because of this five years ago news of the expiry was buried near the bottom of this press release mentioning your miles will have a five-year timeline in which they'll need to be redeemed no one here saw that there was not clear communication from air miles about the expiry I got nothing in writing I got nothing from them wasn't mailed to collectors it wasn't made apparent on the website it was buried under the terms and conditions and frequently asked questions what is their models expiry all about so you really had to go digging to even find any information the release itself said don't worry you don't need to do anything so if someone even read it they might just dismiss it I think it was sneaky very very sneaky it obviously didn't want us to know why do you think they would do it that way I think they were hoping nobody noticed so that they can clear these miles off of their books and increase their profitability yep expired miles are better for the bottom line cuz paying out rewards cost the company money maybe that's why Roz can't find the reward he wants for his miles he's looking for a TV normally on Annie side I'll go just search TV [ __ ] got its not kamek Roz has been saving for almost five years he's got just over 1700 dream miles 4k TV nothing dad nothing builder does that mean there are no more TVs I guarantee you they have it all the rewards that you're trying to find are buried deep within the site in some cases impossible find the website spits off a TV but guess what he needs 60,000 miles to get it razzes way short anybody wanna give rats and miles they charge your money to give people mouths do they thank you money to give people mono cents for every mile yeah out of your yard if you want to give someone else your miles for every mile yes that is insane I'm not giving you my wallet sorry 15 cents it's it's ridiculous it's outrageous as a matter of fact there is another option it's called a dynamite deal one second what's the dye - my deal Rob so a dynamite deal is what airmiles calls some kind of a sale on their merchandise so you have to use some miles and pay cash hey your own cat your own car how do you wallet to get a reward does that sound like dynamite let's see for that TV he has to use all his miles and fork over an extra 1743 dollars in cash hmm seems crazy and listen to this the same TV is 1699 at the break which is actually cheaper so it's cheaper to buy it at your local retailer at the break than by full Airlines doesn't sound dynamite at all no it doesn't matter what do you make of that I mean this sounds like a classic win-win for air miles they get to take some reward miles from their customers and you pay them cash for it lose-lose farad absolutely all right definitely maybe Joanne mosconi's having more luck with 598 Dream miles she has the fewest to burn what's she gonna get she wants a hotel room in Barrie Ontario surely she'll get that this is really frustrating it's telling me there are no hotels available through the air miles reward program Joanne knows what she really wants Travel certificates but they took those rewards away from collectors like her I went to order my certificates they're not there can't find them anywhere never notified any of us that they were doing that so airmiles discovered that people like to redeem their miles for things like gift certificates which probably cost airmiles a lot of money since 2012 the company has been quietly taking popular rewards out of the dream category and sliding them into a new category called cash but the majority of collectors are stuck in dream so they're losing out what they really said back then was that you don't have to do anything different you can continue using the program meanwhile behind the scenes we've changed all the rules and shifted things around so is very sneaky on their part is somewhat deceptive I think to their collectors it's a reward program why is there two sides why is there expiry dates when you earned those air miles you earned them over here more roadblocks anyone looking for a flight I think all three of you are yes I did and I gave up Ivan her browse key has about 5,000 miles to burn but he's finding the website confusing what are you gonna do cry in my beer that's me gluten free beer though and that doesn't taste too good Michael Judds laughing through his pain he's got the most miles here he's desperate to get to New Zealand to visit family how's your search going Michael um not great about the same as it's been going the last six months dead ends just searching searching searching you'd think after searching for half a year and being somewhat flexible he'd find a flight it'll crash it'll time out even though you're you're working it says it times you out then other times you'll get just a little bit further and nice big window will pop up saying sorry about we're experiencing technical difficulties it does make you wonder is it intentional on air miles part I suspect as soon as they see I've got a lot of air miles they say whew let's give him some road blocks that's all I can think of and that's no way to treat a loyal collector I've spent somewhere between three-quarters of a million and a million dollars with air most business partners I'm a customer so is James Fulcher he has 25,000 miles he wants to take his wife on a dream trip where are you going James well I was planning to go to London from Montreal check it out he finds a flight but wait there's a snag he's got to fork out extra cash on top of his rewards the taxes and fees through air miles was six hundred and eighteen dollars six hundred eighteen extra is that fair well over at Air Canada site exact same flight only two hundred and fifty three dollars in taxes and fees unless it's broken out for us in a in a different way it looks like air miles is is gouging on this it's a cash grab disguised as taxes and fees in some cases air miles taxes and fees appear to be much higher than those charged by Airlines people join rewards program supposed to be a you know a fairly significant cash savings right that's the motivation for for joining a rewards program this clearly is not working got that right time for some answers want to call them up sure let's do it okay [Music] welcome to the air miles award program we are experiencing higher than normal weight time we're not able to take any more calls today as the current effective weight time exceeds our operating hours the season they're all mental sex but they're not taking anymore cause we're not able to attend it's 3:30 you just hung up on they just hung up yeah it feels like they're stealing my money when we come back the People vs air miles continues this is your marketplace the real deal on your marketplace we're not able to take any more calls today as the current expected wait time exceeds our operating hours this evening air miles has just hung up on some unhappy collectors yeah what just happened there I feel like I can't do anything obviously they don't have enough staff in their call center to handle all the acquire ease that they're getting but we're not giving up because we have a secret weapon jo-ann's a VIP collector well I'm onyx you want to see I'm supposed to get a priority on the queue will her special status help this group bust through welcome to the world of onyx the ultimate hermanos experience hello you're speaking with Carol how may I help you hi Carol its to a Mosconi calling Joanne wants to know why they moved her Marlin travel certificates and used took them from the dream side and moved them to the cash side okay so why wasn't I ever notified that you used removing Marlin to the cash side uh degrees on our website up not sure how it fits you well I am continually on your website and I never once saw that why can you not move those air miles over to the cache site for me don't tell me it's two different services two different things because you are air miles you're one me so if it could be done would it be more than happy to but it's not something that can be done your mouth dream does not have a cash value and cannot be transferred okay why because they're two separate so don't tell me that don't tell me that you are air miles you wrote the program why can't you move those over and remember the program can make changes right with or without notice it's clearly outlining everything that's on our website in all the terms and conditions okay well I'm getting really frustrated I'm getting nowhere here but we're not ready to hang up all right ride to book a flight James can't wait to get a breakdown on all those extra flight fees these are all charges that are going to the airline so three fifty is the airline surcharge then there's a Canada their security charge of twenty five ninety one she spells it out but it doesn't make sense to James maybe what you have to do James's give your canada call and they might be able to better explain it is honestly when it comes to the pricing and taxes that's not something that's controlled by us you're asking me to call the air canada for example to find out why you're charging so much in fees and taxes this calls going nowhere hello I'm still here Jim okay I just didn't know what else to say to be honest with you we checked with Air Canada and get this air miles is slipping more than half of the cost of that flight into those extra fees some reward can anyone take off I've been trying to book a flight for quite a period of time to New Zealand Michael spent countless hours on the website seems all but impossible I'm trying to figure out why he's had enough surely Carol can fast track the search when it comes to searching flight on our website we share the same tool we have to do the same as you so basically for me for me you really can't help me as such I have to just keep trying different days and it different than what you've already seen on the website to be honest Wow that stuff's really disappointing clearly nobody's leaving a winner today we find something that might explain why a business document turns out they don't want us to redeem all our miles their goal have ass burn up less than 3/4 of them exact say we actively control the program via the options that you can redeem for is that why so many Canadians are having trouble are any of you satisfied right now no no I think they want them to expire it's good yeah they have to hold them in trust for us for when we spend them all that money it's a lot of money millions and millions of dollars what message do all of you have to airmiles right now well the first message would be cancel the expiration yes yes that's absolutely cut cancel the expiration it's totally unfair I'm so frustrated with this reward program that I'm done I've been loyal since 1993 in this past year I have had nothing but frustration cutting up your card done moving on different role reward program well airmiles just lost a custody did a loyal one yeah Raz you're clapping I am because I'm pretty much going to the exact same thing I'm gonna borrow that dog yeah you know I'm not sure how much they will law they will see but uh I'm out goodbye what are you gonna do I'm gonna fight it as long as I can and not just for myself for others I'm not giving up on this at all back in his hometown of Oakville Ontario Michael's on a mission I've been in touch with the air miles president's office he's complained to the Better Business Bureau and that got air miles to follow up they say they're trying to get him that flight to New Zealand hopefully I'll get but he's not banking on it so he's ramping up his fight like they say the squeaky wheel gets the grease and right now I am the squeaky wheel get back to me as soon as possible that would be very much appreciated thank you and my mind shouldn't even legally be allowed to happen those funds are put in trust for me to use and as far as I'm concerned they were there forever or until I use them it feels like they're stealing my money time is running out so Michaels taking it all the way to the Ontario legislature I'm fighting for myself and everybody else that's in the same situation there's a private member's bill on the table to ban all loyalty reward points from ever expiring Michael hello welcome to Greensburg MPP Arthur Potts is the man behind the bill Michaels come to plead his case lay out what's at stake to attain the points I have over the years I've done in excess of 70,000 well that's three-quarters of a million dollars that's incredible with airmiles business partners yes it was very loyal you've earned those points I have I've heard from so many Ontarians just like you they call me up and say this is wrong they're stealing my points and you got to do something to stop it yeah how confident are you that this is gonna pass I think there's a good chance we get this thing done by Christmas it'll be an early Christmas present okay that would be wonderful so will it be a wonderful life while the clock ticks Michaels hoping for a Christmas miracle we're gonna bring your answer to Canadians and they're not gonna like what they just heard yeah the fights not over yet air miles isn't backing down and neither are we this is your market place you can't afford to miss this for long time air miles collector Michael Judd it looks like his Christmas wish may come true he's at the Ontario legislature to talk to politicians who have the power to outlaw expiry dates for all loyalty programs we're here to along with air mile execs today we're dealing with bill 47 with respect to reward points and as I understand it there are several people who wish to speak this is the moment Michael's been waiting for it really and honestly feels like I'm being blocked with with purpose and intent the level of service I would say is less than 1% of what it was in the 90s it is right now from my perspective appalling it's been very painful next up the CFO and VP of air miles owner LoyaltyOne mr. Judd we are working to resolve your issue however let me please say this to the committee mr. Judds experience is not the norm we received more than 13,000 direct customer contacts and processed over 42,000 redemptions a day this translates to an order every two seconds totaling over two billion dollars in rewards value over the last four years and their response to the bill now the government has put all loyal to programs on notice and essentially handcuffed business with respect to the management of its own affairs this will have a negative impact on the loyalty landscape in Ontario let me be clear the impact of this rule will be far reaching for weeks we've been asking for an interview with LoyaltyOne and they've declined maybe they'll talk to us today we're with CBC Marketplace we just want to ask you heard in there we've talked to so many Canadians who just want you to cancel that expiry policy why won't you back down we have shared our point of view with with the committee we have talked to them about having a comprehensive and collaborative conversation as it pertains to the matter at hand VP of corporate affairs Mitchell Mara wits had better hurry the legislation is expected to pass if this bill goes through what about the rest of Canada you're gonna be forced to cancel the expiry policy won't you as I said nothing speculate on these matters but we are open to this have a conversation and open conversation air miles says suggestions they don't want Canadians to redeem their miles couldn't be further from the truth and they've been improving their website and customer service but remember that document we dug up reveals management wants less than three-quarters of miles redeemed you don't want all your collectors to redeem their miles we found it in transcribe notes it's what we want is our collectors to stay actively engaged in our program to both earn and redeem less than 48 hours after our exchange air miles caves to public pressure they cancel the expiry policy so that's a win for the people or isn't look at this notice to their shareholders loyalty one will adjust the value proposition to collectors translation they're going to devalue your miles to make up for their loss profit Canadians aren't happy about any of this Congrats on making Canadians unloyal to your loyalty program live it with air miles right now wish I save my points and redeem them for something I really want a air miles can I return the item I purchased only because I didn't want to lose my points here is air miles response we are not accepting returns cancellations or exchanges due to the cancellation of the expiry policy once booked the case of the People vs air miles clearly isn't over we're not closing this file just yet we'll continue to keep watching to make sure you're getting the most out of your months [Music] you

Channel: CBC News

Views: 481,559

Rating: 4.7704282 out of 5

Keywords: CBC News, CBCNews, CBC broadcasting media, public broadcasting, news, Canadian News, Canadian Broadcasting Corportation (TV network), CBC News Network, cbc marketplace, marketplace cbc, marketplace, air miles, rewards miles, reward miles, reward points, rewards, loyalty programs

Id: afzEk5dMgSc

Length: 22min 27sec (1347 seconds)

Published: Fri Dec 02 2016